


Peacekeeper: Wendigo

by Red (Red_Balloons)



Series: Peacekeeper Files [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: "The Bureau", Implied Unethical Practices, Mix of Tenses, Moral Ambiguity, Nonlinear Narrative, World 0, World 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 15:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19176328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Balloons/pseuds/Red
Summary: There is much to be learned, when one keeps an opened mind.There is much to be hated, when one finds themselves controlled.There is much to love, when one sees the beauty in everything.





	Peacekeeper: Wendigo

**Author's Note:**

> The mix of tenses in this story show what happened when. Present tense for the 'now' and past tense for the 'then.' It's simple (kind of; it was actually hard to write this way).
> 
> I chose the World Number that Peacekeeper goes to on a mission because the day I finished this piece was the 11th. I might not return to this world.
> 
> The unnamed characters are listed above on the chance I reference them later (or give them proper names and such). Fyers, Councilwoman Honey and Councilman Drake are _definitely_ going to be showing up down the road. One of them more than the others but I'm not putting that as a 'concrete' fact.
> 
> (This happens after "Peacekeeper: First Mission" as the references hint; I will be finishing that some time soon. Hopefully. It's going to be longer than this piece, so who knows. I started writing this one 11 days ago.)

> **A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality.**
> 
> **John F. Kennedy**

* * *

 

The beast breathes its last with a pitiful whimper.

She turns away, mission successful.

The other agents - all wounded and weary - are staring at her from the other side of the windows. Shock is obvious in their posture as she slowly walks back outside.

* * *

_The file was a small one, more a brief missive than a proper case file. She calmly flicked open the manila folder to read through the objective and the few facts she was allowed to see. Four measly sentences was all that greeted her._

> _Case Leader rendered dead, men in hostile territory. Objective is to find the remaining soldiers, bring them to safety and assure that the enemy is killed. Enemy is believed to be of a non-human nature - though maybe not of an extraterrestrial nature. Reports suggest taking caution with which weapons are brought along to use._

_But that was okay - she’d been given less and still came out successful. This would be easy. A piece of cake. (The weird looks she’s been given for saying any of that aloud is worth it.)_

_“You sure you can handle this?” It’s part of the procedure when one department has to reach out to another for help. This representative knew her - all of the reps of the other departments knew her by now, by name if not by face._

_Peacekeeper nodded._

_The feminine Xolotl alien from the Gamma Branch relaxed, the frills along the outer edge of her face twitch from the relief. “Keep in mind you will only be allowed two weapons, your main and a backup. You will be leaving the moment you’re prepared, so please get to it. There are twenty men needing saved.”_

_The agent nodded again, standing up and silently bidding the rep farewell. For now. It was very likely she and this representative would be meeting later on for another reason._

* * *

She is aware, with what little she’s been given, that fire and silver works best. Because fire kills most of everything, and silver, in the Gamma Branch, can kill what the fire couldn’t.

So as she walks into hostile territory, all she has on her is a lighter and a tiny silver dagger.

Her Gamma Handler is scared for her. She can feel his fear trickling down her spine, could taste it in the back of her mouth. But she ignores it in favor of finding the soldiers. For finding the creature they’d been sent in to kill.

* * *

_Wendigo._

_The Alpha Branch didn’t have wendigos. They were just stories, myths, told to scare people with the what ifs._

_The Beta Branch had magic that could cause similar creatures, but no actual wendigos._

_Branches Gamma through Kappa had wendigos. Though each Branch functioned with different rules on dealing with them._

_Gamma was with fire. Delta was with words. Epsilon was the Branch that could go either way. Zeta Branch was a reality in which Peacekeeper barely traveled, as the wendigo, while existing, were easily handled by the locals, docile as they are._

_Eta, Theta, and Iota each had a hierarchy of wendigo that took care of themselves. Eta was a patriarchy; Theta, a monarchy; Iota controlled their numbers through clans. The Bureau as a whole was expected to deal with their kings, queens and clan leaders should they be brought in at all for an issue involving their people. Peacekeeper, herself, was rarely needed in these Branches as well._

_Kappa, on the other hand, Peacekeeper knew intimately. It’s currently one of the Chaos Realities that the Bureau kept around. For balance. (Sigma through Omega were similar Chaos Realities, as of now, but they didn’t have wendigos. Much like the Kappa Branch, Peacekeeper knew these fairly well.) The wendigos here were vast in numbers, and the ways to deal with them equally so._

_The Lambda, Mu, and Nu Branches were the only Connective Branches. These parts of reality move freely between one another. It was always hard for the Bureau to keep track of who was from which specific Branch; Peacekeeper, herself, doesn’t care. It’s a cluster of realities, as far as she is concerned. All that really mattered is if someone is from any of these three. (Unless someone from one of these three wound up in a different Branch completely, and vice versa, then it was time for pursuit.) These parts of reality were advanced enough to have a handle on their respective wendigo problems._

_Branches Xi through Rho were the branches that Peacekeeper was currently unable to go to. They, in contrast to the Chaos Branches, were the current Peaceful ones. In a way, Peacekeeper usually pondered, the Chaos and the Peaceful branches were part of one cluster, like Lambda, Mu and Nu._

_(Peacekeeper noted silently that all Branches had, at one point or another, been labeled a Chaotic Branch. Likewise with Peaceful. Though the logistics of the why and how were, for now, beyond her knowledge._

_It’s just another point of learning for her. One she had time to venture.)_

_As she made her way out of the armory, she found herself calm. It didn’t matter how much she knew of the Branches - she just had to know the creatures within them._

* * *

The moment she touches down, Peacekeeper is in control - of herself, of the others, of the situation. Her presence demands it. Orders flow easily from her as she stalks towards the building currently in use as a temporary headquarters. She has to keep everyone on their toes somehow. Even if she is going in alone, it doesn’t hurt to keep everyone moving and prepared, in case this is the one case that kills her.

(There’s always going to be that doubt, Peacekeeper knows, but it doesn’t stop the pride from rising up. She is proud of her accomplishments; she knows it is hard to catch her off guard, let alone kill her. But she keeps herself in check - cockiness is weakness, something to be used against her. She can’t let herself be weak.)

“How long would you say this one’ll last?”

Peacekeeper glances over at the soldier moving closer to her. Fyers - another Bureau agent Peacekeeper knows fairly well, only this time because they’re from the same department rather than them coming to her to request aid. She stops before the building’s entrance, hand upon the door knob, to give the Drow a long once-over before speaking.

“With how many need to be rescued and no real data on their current physical situations-” she looks down with a hum, calculating the time it might take her to finish her duty “-it could be between forty minutes and three hours.”

Fyers winces. Then he pauses and nods, white hairs rustling against his clothing. “Makes sense. You’re always careful with injured.”

Peacekeeper snorts and continues on to the main part of the small hub. Careful her ass - she only wishes to have less paperwork, is all. (Even if Peacekeeper got her title, her code name, for keeping the Bureau’s Board in line.)

* * *

_“Are you aware of what’s at stake, little Peacekeeper?”_

_The agent frowned, gaze heavy upon the young councilman as he leaned forward. His mouth was pulled into something vague but still cocky; his eyes were narrowed with smug satisfaction. Her only response was her silence._

_Councilwoman Honey - code name that traveled with her from the Kappa Branch’s Operatives Department - laughed. It was a full belly sound, steeped with fondness and malice. “Peacekeeper knows what her roles are among us all, Drake. Never question her, never doubt her, and_ **_never_ ** _,” she turned her gaze from the younger man to stare down Peacekeeper, “threaten her.”_

_“Show, don’t tell.”_

_Peacekeeper smiled._

* * *

Once it is all said and done - the monster dead and the soldiers saved - Peacekeeper takes a moment to breathe. It isn’t a habit to calm herself - breathing, Peacekeeper has been taught, keeps her sane. After the disaster that will always be her first mission, it is best if her mind stays stable. Sane.

Mostly unbiased.

(Which is a hard trait to maintain. After her first mission, Peacekeeper has found herself with surprising morals - the kind that isn’t seen within other in-field agents. Seeing the darker side of existence does tend to color one’s perspective. Apparently.)

So, for the twenty minutes she’s given between finishing the mission and leaving, Peacekeeper sits alone, breathing.

Because she just knows, like all other cases she’s given, that one of the many variations of the Board is the cause. Only question is which one.

And she hates not knowing the answer.

**Author's Note:**

> The species/races within this story _are_ from other sources. Xolotl gets its inspiration from Gravity Falls and the water creatures; Drow is taken from Dungeons and Dragons. Outside of physical appearance, neither of these species/races will follow the same logic/general characteristics of their source versions.
> 
> I would also like to apologize for that info-dump in the middle of the piece. It was a way for me to organize Peacekeeper's thoughts to myself and ended up deciding to leave it in. (So it might be best if everyone thinks of that part as Peacekeeper thinking through her options when she's in the armory.)
> 
> (There will be more on how the Branches work later. I don't know _how much later_ , but it'll happen eventually. Once I get my head organized enough on how this whole world works, at least.


End file.
